Operating chair head rest



Dec. 28, 1965 w, PAGE 3,226,160

OPERATING CHAIR HEAD REST Filed Aug. 14, 1963 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 ifINVENTOR f/rx fieo 14 P466 Dec. 28, 1965 R. w. PAGE OPERATING CHAIR HEADREST 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. 14, 1963 G IM.

INVENTOR.

United States Patent 3,226,160 OPERATING CHAIR HEAD REST Richard W.Page, 307 Quaker Road, Chappaqua, NY. Filed Aug. 14, 1963, Ser. No.302,039 4 Claims. (Cl. 297410) This invention relates to operatingchairs, such as dental chairs, and more particularly to headconstructions for such chairs.

Typical head rests, as now used, generally take the form of a pair ofpads for the patients head, with vertical and otherwise adjustablesupports. The patients head is not fixed in position by the head restand cannot be supported satisfactorily when the head is turned to oneside. There may also be considerable interference with the dentist intaking suitable working positions in back of the patients head.

The general object of the present invention is to provide an improvedhead rest eliminating these defects. The head rest typically takes theform of a concave oval cushioned member receiving the patients head andlimiting both vertical and sidewise movement thereof, together with asupport providing a full range of linear and angular adjustment.

With this general object, as well as others which will appear, in mind,a head rest embodying the invention in a preferred form will now bedescribed with reference to the accompanying drawing, and the featuresforming the invention will then be pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawing:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a dental chair equipped with a preferredembodiment of the head rest of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the head rest, on an enlarged scale;

FIG. 3 is a rear elevation of the head rest structure of FIG. 2;

FIGS. 4 and 5 are further enlarged sections on the respective lines 44and 55 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 6 is a further enlarged section on the line 66 of FIG. 3;

FIGS. 7 and 8 are sections on the respective lines 7-7 and 88 of FIG. 6;and

FIG. 9 is a much enlarged fragmentary section on the line 9-9 of FIG. 2.

The chair shown in FIG. 1 is of generally conven tional constructioncomprising a seat 1 supported on a vertically adjustable pedestal 2.Arms rests 3 are also supported for sidewise pivotal movement by member4 secured to the bottom of the seat structure or post 2 and movingvertically with the seat. The back 5 is carried on a post 6 which is, inturn, slidably carried by column 7 which is secured to a yoke structure9 pivoted for fore and aft movement to the bracket 10 secured to thebottom of the seat 1 and top of the pedestal 2. The lower end of column7 is pivotally connected at 11 to a member for adjusting its inclinationwith respect to the seat 1. This mechanism provides, in the usual way,for tiltably adjusting the support 7 and back 5 with reference to theseat 1, so that the patient may be in any desired position from a supineposition to an upright sitting position. Further details of the chairarrangement are not shown therein, as they form no part of the presentinvention.

A cross piece 20 secured to the back of the chair back 5 carries adownwardly extending bar 21 and the lower member 22 of the head restsupporting column is pivotally secured to the bar 22, as by pin 23.Upper member 24 of the column slides within the lower member 22 toprovide vertical head rest adjustment and its upper end comprises a bentsection 25 and horizontal terminal section 26 which supports the headrest 30.

Generally parallel to the telescoped column 22-24 and "ice uppersections 25, 26 is a control rod 31 which is pivotally and slidablycarried in a tube 32, which is pivotally supported to one side of member22 by ring 33 and a block 34 mounted on the member 22 by means ofbracket 35.

Rod 31 engages by means of collar 36 one end of a latch member 37,pivoted to the member 24 at 38. The other end of the latch member isurged upwardly by a spring 39. Grasping the horizontal end 40 of the rod31 together with the end 36 of member 24 and squeezing them togetherlifts rod 31, depressing the other end of latch 38 and depressingrelease rod 41 secured thereto. The release rod extends into member 22and connects to a pawl 42 pivoted to member 24 (FIGS. 6-8). Pawl 42cooperate-s with ratchet teeth 43 formed on a strip 44 secured to themember 22. With the parts in the position of FIG. 8, pawl 42 engagesratchet teeth 43, holding up the column member 24 in its adjustedposition, and spring 39 holds the pawl in engaged position. Lifting rod31 depresses rod 41, disengaging the pawl 42 and permitting member 24and the parts supported thereby to be adjusted upwardly and downwardlywith reference to member 22 for positioning the head rest 30.

The fore and aft pivotal movement about the pin 23 of the head restsupporting assembly as a whole is also provided, and this is controlledby the mechanism shown in FIGS. 6 and 7. As there shown, the offset end45 of support element 20 carries a bar 46 which is vertically slidablein slot 47 of the offset 45 and held in position by nuts or collars 48which have suflicient clearance from member 45 to permit a verticalsliding movement in the slot 47. The bar 46 passes through a channel inthe block 34, which is secured (by plate 49) to member 22 as abovementioned. This channel communicates with an opening 50 in block 34which accommodates tubes 32 and rod 31 therein as well as a camprojection 51 secured to the tube 32 and locking block 34 to bar 46 whenturned into the position of FIGS. 6 and 7. Turning tube 32 and camprojection 51 (counter clockwise in FIG. 6) will clear the camprojection 51 from the bar 46 and permit pivoting movement of column 22and elements carried thereby about the axis of pin 23, so that the headrest may be adjusted in the fore and aft direction as desired and thenlocked in position by turning the rod 31 back to the position of FIGS. 6and 7.

A rectilinear lateral adjustment for head rest 30 is also provided, thehead rest being supported in the horizontal section 26 by means of ashaft 55 which may he slid in and out of the section 26. Shaft 55 isprovided with a series of circumferential grooves 56 cooperating with aball detent 57 to urgingly lock the shaft in adjusted position, whilepermitting its free rotation about its own axis within the member 26.

A further lateral pivotal adjustment of the head rest is provided, bymeans of the pivotal joint 58 connecting the head rest supporting bar 59to shaft 55. The center pin of this hinge is threaded on its upper endand fitted with a wing nut 60 for locking the hinge in adjustedposition. The hinge elements may be knurled or ridged as indicated tomaintain them in their adjusted position.

The head rest itself comprises a support member or backing plate whichmay be formed integral with element 59 previously referred to. Thiselement is of an oval configuration, as viewed in FIG. 3, and is concaveor dished as appears in FIGS. 4 and 5. The padding 66 is of a similaroval, concave form and may be bonded to the backing plate 65 in moldingor secured adhesively thereto thereafter. While various paddingmaterials may be used, molded foam such as polyurethane foam is foundsuitable. The concavity is such as to receive the head with more or lessuniform supporting pressure over the entire pad and in particular withdefinite supporting pressure around the a periphery of the pad, thesupported area as viewed in FIG. 3 being about five or six inches inwidth and seven or eight inches in length. It is apparent any turningmovement of the headreleases the pressure of the pad on one side andincreases that on'the other, tending to restore the head to centeredposition. In practice, it is found that accidental movement of thepatients head in the head rest is effectively prevented, so that thehead is definitely located and supported in a firm but comfortablemanner.

To facilitate the adjustment of member 24 within member 22, it ispreferably provided with a roll 61 riding against the wall of member 23to one side of the ratchet strip 44 and a, similar roll 62 carried bythe element 22 maintains the element 23 in position adjacent the top ofmember 22.

What is claimed is:

1. A head rest for dental and other operating chairs comprising aconcave, oval head rest element having a rigid backing member andresilient facing adapted to engage and support the patients head over anarea extending substantially the entire width and height of the backingmember, the said head rest element being at least about five inches wideand seven inches long, and means for supporting the said backing memberin head supporting relation to the chair, the last said means comprisinga support member and means for positioning the support member adjustablyin a fore and aft direction and a direction upwardly and downwardly ofthe chair back, and means mounting the backing member to the saidsupport member for pivoting about an axis substantially at right anglesto the twosaid directions.

2. A head rest according to claim 1, in which the said mounting meanscomprises a hinge connection having an axis substantially parallel tothe vertical axis of the backing member, whereby tilting the heat restelement about the said hinge axis positions it for supporting the headin a position turned to one side, and means for locking the said hingeconnection in adjusted position.

3. A head rest for dental and other operating chairs comprising aconcave, oval head rest element having a rigid backing member andresilient facing adapted to engage and support the patients head over anarea extending substantially the entire width and height of the backing,member, the said head rest element being at least about five incheswide and seven inches long, and means for supporting the said backingmember in head supporting relation to the chair, the last said meanscomprising a generally horizontal shaft element secured to the backingmember midway between its upper and lower ends and means supporting theshaft member for rotation about its axis and in which the said shaftsupporting means comprises a hinged joint adjacent an edge of the headrest element for pivoting the same about an axis parallel to itsvertical axis and means for locking the said hinged joint in adjustedposition.

4. A head rest for dental and other operating chairs comprising aconcave, oval head rest element having a rigid backing member andresilient facing adapted to engage and support the patients head over anarea extending substantially the entire width and height of the backingmember, and means for supporting the said backing member in headsupporting relation to the chair, the last said means comprising asupport member, means mounting the backing member tothe said supportmember for pivoting about a transverse axis, and means for positioningthe support member adjustably in a fore and aft direction and adirection upwardly and downwardly of the chair back, the last said meanscomprising a support bracket member secured to the chair back andextending downwardly therefrom, a tubular column and means pivoting thesame at its lower end to the support bracket member, a slidable supportfor the last mentioned support member comprising a lower sectionslidably received in the tubular column and upper sections disposed atan angle for positioning the head rest element above the chair back andcentrally thereof, locking means for securing the said tubular column inadjusted angular position about its pivot and for securing the slidablesupport member in adjusted position axially of the tubular column and anoperating member for the said locking means, comprising a rod slidablysupported on the tubular column and extending upwardly and in generalparallelism to the slidable member, the said rod terminating in asection adjacent the head rest element, whereby this section may besqueezed together with the slidable support for releasing the saidlocking means to permit desired adjustment of the head rest, and springmeans normally urging the said rod toward locking position.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 435,056 8/1890Dow 297407 2,638,152 5/1953 Pulsifer 297-410 2,740,467 4/ 1956 Page297-410 2,828,811 4/1958 McDonald 297409 FRANK B. SHERRY, PrimaryExaminer.

1. A HEAD REST FOR DENTAL AND OTHER OPERATING CHAIRS COMPRISING ACONCAVE, OVAL HEAD REST ELEMENT HAVING A RIGID BACKING MEMBER ANDRESILIENT FACING ADAPTED TO ENGAGE AND SUPPORT THE PATIENT''S HEAD OVERAN AREA EXTENDING SUBSTANTIALLY THE ENTIRE WIDTH AND HEIGHT OF THEBACKING MEMBER, THE SAID HEAD REST ELEMENT BEING AT LEAST ABOUT FIVEINCHES WIDE AND SEVEN INCHES LONG, AND MEANS FOR SUPPORTING THE SAIDBACKING MEMBER IN HEAD SUPPORTING RELATION TO THE CHAIR, THE LAST SAIDMEANS COMPRISING A SUPPORT